Equatorial Guinea's president calls on American businesses to support efforts to end malaria

Equatorial Guinea President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo called on the American business community to ramp up cooperative efforts with African nations to combat malaria in the country.

In remarks during a meeting marking the 10th anniversary of the Malaria Control Program on the island of Bioko, Obiang said the country's relationship with American companies "is a clear example" of a positive public-private partnership.

"We have partnered with American private companies to reduce the transmission and the morbidity of this disease," Obiang said. "For this reason, the government of Equatorial Guinea and American private partners have invested over $90 million in the last 10 years. This investment has been key to reverse the adverse tendency of this disease."

Partners in the malaria prevention program include Marathon Oil, AMCO Methanol, Noble Energy, GEPetrol and Sonagas. One of the most significant results of the partnership is the emergence of a massive vaccine campaign, which seeks to eliminate malaria in the country by 2020.

"Equatorial Guinea is in the process of finalizing an agreement with our partners and Sanaria, an American biotechnology company specialized in malaria vaccination, to reach our objective to eradicate malaria not only from our country but the world," Obiang said.